Big Office-to-Resi Shift
Commercial Observer
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In a sign of the times, a developer behind a major project in the Los Angeles area is shifting the focus from office to residential. Also for today: A court case and political pressure might finally force New York City to change how it assesses property.
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— Tom Acitelli, Deputy Editor
Developers Plan Massive Hollywood Apartment Complex Instead of Office, Studios
The developers behind the CMNTY Culture Campus project in Hollywood are reportedly switching up its design plans from office to residential amid stubbornly high office vacancy rates in Los Angeles. The project sits at the prominent intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Highland Avenue. Updated plans filed with the city call for a pair of residential buildings, 34 and 38 stories tall, totaling 743 units, along with 10,500 square feet of retail space, according to Urbanize, which cited research platform ATC. Unveiled in 2022, the campus was originally intended to redevelop the intersection’s northeast corner into 500,000 square feet of studio and office space, rising 13 stories with artist hospitality space and a 500-seat outdoor performance venue, among other aspects. At least one component of the old plans remain, however: a 10,000-square-foot recording studio, planned for the northwest corner of the property.
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A New York City Property Tax Overhaul? It Could Finally Happen.
New York City’s property tax system, in which millionaires effectively pay a lower tax rate on their townhouses and condos than outer borough homeowners do, might be inherently unfair but few political leaders have been willing to do anything about it. That may begin to change. New York state’s highest court ruled in March that a lawsuit brought by a coalition of housing advocates challenging the legality of the city’s property tax system could move forward after a lower court dismissed the complaint in 2020. State laws largely control the city’s complex property tax system. But the court’s decision could empower the city to design a more equitable way to assess and tax different types of properties.
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